Monday, October 1, 2012

Mad, Glad, Sad? Show, Don't Tell.

Angela Ackermanis one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging
duo. She and her partner, Becca Puglisi, are co-authors of The
Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression, a book that I
own and use consistently. Listing the body language, visceral reactions
and thoughts associated with seventy-fivedifferent emotions, this
brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. She
lives in Calgary, Alberta, in the shadow of the Rockies, with her family who
she describes as crazy and therefore awesome, a dog and one slightly
zombie-like fish.

If you would like to see a
sample entry on FEAR straight from the book, just click
here! Welcome to Book Blather, Angela.

If there
is one universal fear among writers, it’s the bad review. No one wants to get
one, even though we prepare for them. After all, taste is subjective and our
work won’t appeal to everyone. But there’s a particular criticism that we are
especially wary of, one that transforms our insides into a free-falling
elevator if mentioned in conjunction with our book: cliché.

This Word That Must Not Be Named hits us at
the core because as writers our biggest goal is to bring something new and
unique to the reader. Often times however, clichés slip into our writing
because we cannot think around the common (and often accurate) descriptions.
This is especially true when writing EMOTION. Below is a small excerpt of the
book, The Emotion
Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression where Becca and I offer a few
strategies to use when writing emotion that will help you stay clear of the
worn and overused gestures and bodily reactions.

CLICHÉD EMOTIONS

•
The grin that stretches from ear to ear

• A
single tear pooling in the eye before coursing down the cheek

•
Quivering knees that knock together

Clichés
in literature are vilified for good reason. They’re a sign of lazy writing, a
result of settling on the easy phrase because coming up with something new is
too hard. Writers often fall back on clichés because, technically, these tired
examples work. That grin implies happiness as certainly as knee knocking
indicates fear. Unfortunately, phrases like these lack depth because they don’t
allow for a range of emotions. That single tear tells you that the person is
sad, but how upset is she? Sad enough to sob? Shriek? Collapse? Will she even
be crying five minutes from now? To relate to your character, the reader needs
to know the depth of emotion being experienced.

When
writing a certain emotion, think about your body and what happens to it when
you’re feeling that way. Excitement, for example. The heart races and the pulse
quickens. Legs bounce. The speech of a methodical person becomes fast paced
with streaming words. The voice is pitched higher and louder. For any given
emotion, there are literally dozens of internal and external changes that, when
referenced, will show the reader what your character is feeling. The lists in
this thesaurus are great for providing ideas, but your own observations are
just as helpful. Watch people—real flesh-and-blood specimens at the mall or
characters in movies. Note how they act when they’re confused or overwhelmed or
irritable. The face is the easiest to notice but the rest of the body is just
as telling. Don’t overlook changes in a person’s voice, speech, or overall
bearing and posture.

Secondly,
know your character. Individuals do things differently—even mundane activities
like brushing their teeth, driving, or making dinner. Emotions are no
exception. Not every character will shout and throw things when angry. Some
speak in quiet voices. Others go completely silent. Many, for various reasons,
will cover their anger and act like they’re not upset at all. Whatever your
character is feeling, describe the emotion in a way that is specific to him or
her, and you’re almost guaranteed to write something new and evocative.

This is such a valuable tool - thanks for sharing! Showing versus telling can also be applied to all kinds of other opportunities, e.g. creating business pitches, conveying sympathy, blog posts etc. Here's an article I wrote from the perspective of a fiction editor, if you're interested: http://catehogan.com/show-dont-tell-rule/